The present invention relates generally to the field of smart cards, and more particularly to utilizing a folding mechanism for authentication purposes on smart cards.
Contactless payment systems are gaining widespread acceptance by retailers and are becoming increasingly popular among consumers. In contactless payment systems, consumers use a payment card that is equipped with an integrated chip and antenna that securely communicates consumer account information via a radio frequency communication link to a retailer's payment terminal. The payment terminal then connects to an appropriate financial network or other back-end processing system via, for example, a communication network, to authorize the transaction. Once authorized, the consumer completes the transaction. This scheme of contactless payment accomplishes a transaction at a convenience for a user in comparison with traditional credit cards or debit card transactions, which require a card to be swiped through a reader.
Contactless payment devices typically include a chip and antenna. The chip includes, for example, consumer account information. When the chip is brought into close enough proximity to a suitable reader, the antenna will be activated and will transmit the consumer account information residing on the chip to the reader. To avoid errors and ensure that the reader is communicating with the correct device, the proximity of the contactless payment device to the reader required to activate the antenna is typically on the order of a very few inches at most.